Lately, I've been feeling like the revisions on my current novel are taking forever. Guess what? I checked my notes and discovered I started writing the first draft last March. So, I've actually only been working on this project for a year (plus probably a few months where the idea floated around in my head and on the pages of my notebook).
Wow! That's hardly any time compared to my first novel. It took five years before I reached the feeling that I'd completed it, or didn't know what else to do. I must be learning something.
Sometimes it can be encouraging to step back and look at the bigger picture. I often get caught up in the day-to-day details of writing, which have so many ups and downs. Sometimes a lot of downs. But a little over a year seems pretty reasonable for writing and revising a novel. Now I'm inspired to get my revisions finished!
Here are my goals for April:
1. Finish revisions on Novel #4.
2. Polish Novel #4. The feedback I'm getting from critique buddies suggests it might be ready to start subbing soon.
3. Write a query, pitch sentence and synopsis for Novel #4.
4. Oh yeah. And definitely decide on which title I'm going to use.
How is your writing project coming along? Have you ever found inspiration from looking back at what you've accomplished? What goals do you have for the coming month?
Very good post. A year isn't very long in the scheme of things. Writing is hard work and takes time. My goal for April is to write at least 20 minutes everyday instead of relying on all my writing to be done on the weekends.
ReplyDeleteGreat goal, Christy! That might make your weekend writing sessions more productive, too, because it might make it easier to get back into the right mental writing space.
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ReplyDeleteI'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who's been working on her novel for the last five years. Revisions take time. Better to have one good novel than several sub par ones. Best of luck with it.
ReplyDeleteStella, that's definitely true. The more I learn, the more I realize I need to do to get to that "good novel".
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